Day 1,685

The end of the road?

I kept having to pinch myself. We were in Cochrane. Almost the end of the Carretera Austral.  I've read so many blogs, watched endless videos, and followed the journeys of many of the cycle tourers we've met, and now we are finally here ourselves. Cochrane is just a small town but where it is, well that’s pretty special. Far down into Patagonia, it was founded in 1954, but road access only arrived in 1988, and that didn't cause a major population explosion, still just under 3,000 live here. It is named after Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald, Scotland, a naval captain of some repute. So much so that in 1818 he was asked to become First Admiral of the Chilean Navy, and under his leadership helped the young nation of Chile win independence from Spain. 

The town is laid out in the now familiar grid pattern. There is a statue of the Earl on the edge of the main streets. In the centre is a small park, lined with beautiful pine trees, apparently planted at the behest of Pinochet, and more statues of Chilean heros. The town is dominated by the Monte San Lorenzo Peak, also known as Cerro Cochrane. At 3,706 metres it stands on the border between Chile and Argentina. Lying just to the north of the town is the newly created Patagonia National Park. Originally a private nature reserve, in 2018  it was donated to the Chilean government by Tomkins Conservation. 

Tom and I decided to head off into the park. We hiked the Woodpeckers Trail. An easy ramble, running besides the river Cochrane, up and down the hillside. It was another hot day so we decided on a swim. The water looked stunning, such a beautiful shade of blue, it did not look real. It was flowing fast and was absolutely freezing, well it was  glacial melt!

The perfect swim hole, apart from the fact it was glacial meltwater!

Tom decided the only way in was immediate full body immersion and took a running jump off a small jetty, I eased myself in gently, but neither of us really swam for long, the current felt a wee bit too strong for that! Tom spotted a fair few woodpeckers, even two young ones copying their parents and having a go at pecking some holes into a tree. I managed to hear them but as soon as they heard me blundering along they flew off.

The rest of our few days off in Cochrane was spent on the usual chores, blog updating, bike and kit checking, plus some planning for the future. We also met up with a couple of fellow tourers, Curtis and Jenny. Turns out we have nearly bumped into each other many times over the years so it was great to finally meet. 

Then it was back on the road, just two days riding to Puerto Yungay and the end of the Carretera Austral for us. Curtis and Jenny were heading the same way, but we didn't plan to ride together as our riding styles vary so much. They start super early and finish often before some tourers have even started. So we weren't surprised to catch up with them a few hours after we'd left Cochrane. We stopped, a coffee break for Tom and I, but it was the end of that day's riding for them. It wasn't the last we'd see of them though.

A rare car-free moment

We continued on, the views were stunning, snow capped mountains, glaciers, lakes and rivers all around. The road though was tough, lots of hills, all gravel with masses of loose stones and so many sections of horrid ripio. We stopped fairly early at a campsite, then regretted it, but we needed water, the river was too full of glacial salts.

The following day Jenny and Curtis passed our campsite just as we were leaving, so we rode together until they stopped for the day at the only restaurant on this part of the road. We were pretty confident we'd see them tomorrow though! We found ourselves a fabulous wild campspot and had another dip in the river and settled down relatively clean for our last night on the Carretera.

Then the morning arrived and we set out on our last day riding on the Carretera. Just 13 miles, one very big hill to ride over. The road surface was actually pretty decent for the climb but by the descent it was back to potholes, ripio and grit. Finally we dropped down to Puerto Yungay. Just a slipway, a takeaway coffee shop, a couple of offices and a car park.

The last climb of our Carretera

We pulled up and were greeted by fellow Brits, Damian and Michaela, AKA, @mickyanddamo. They are touring the world on a Royal Enfield Motorcycle, we had lots to chat about. The carpark was pretty full. The ferry to continue the final section of road to the official end of the Carretera leaves from here several times a day. We killed time watching that come and go, and discussing the main topic of the day, would those without tickets actually get on the ferry to Puerto Natales. Tom and I had tickets, but we seemed to be the only ones. Michaela, Damian, another dozen or so motorcyclists and quite a few campervans and cars were hoping there would be some no-shows for the fully booked ferry.

By 5pm the area was packed, rumours abounded, there was space for some, there wasn't, there was, on and on. Finally at 5pm, 3 motorcyclists were given the OK. Damian and Michaela made the cut as they'd been queuing for nearly 2 days. Others weren't so lucky,  one poor chap had driven there last week to be turned away and lost out again. We then had to wait and watch whilst the vehicles reversed on, not easy for many, the most impressive was a  wagon, fully loaded with very long steel girders. He made it, and finally we were off. Goodbye Carretera Austral, it’s been a challenge and we are not certain you've quite lived up to the hype, it's taken 3 attempts to get here and we don't regret a minute or mile of it! 

What next…?